Posted: March 4, 2008 9:17 PM
McCain Projected to Win GOP Nomination
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Arizona Sen. John McCain completed a four-state sweep Tuesday night to capture the GOP nomination, the Associated Press and other news organizations projected after his victories in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. His campaign is waiting to unfurl a victory banner declaring him the official nominee at his election night party in Dallas, Texas.
By the end of Tuesday, he is expected to win the 1,191 needed to mathematically capture the GOP nomination. McCain needed to win around 170 delegates out of 253 total pledged delegates at stake in Tuesday’s primaries. He won 14 in Vermont’s winner-takes-all race and at least 31 of 85 in Ohio.
Rhode Island and Texas polls closed at 9 p.m. ET with media outlets quickly calling both races for McCain.
McCain’s remaining opponent former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee began the evening with just 257 delegates. Exit polls showed that one in seven Republican voters were independents and that conservatives were dominating turnout in both Ohio and Texas, according to the AP.
McCain and Huckabee evenly split white evangelical and born again voters in Ohio, showing the senator making inroads among conservative voters that have resisted him as the Republican nominee. On Tuesday evening, CNN reported that “plans were in place” for President George Bush, McCain’s rival for the GOP nomination in 2000, to endorse him in his 2008 bid.
McCain began to set himself up against the Democrats, weighing in on many issues playing out in the Democratic race. As Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tried to convince voters they would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, McCain took the Republican stance.
“I support NAFTA. I support free trade. I support it in Ohio. I support it in Texas. The declaration that we will unilaterally renegotiate a treaty is dangerous,” McCain said according to the Dallas Morning News.
Ohio is a crucial state leading into the general election and the Ohio Democratic Party was quick to attack McCain’s early win.
“During his brief primary campaign in Ohio, John McCain voiced his support for job-killing economic policies, told state manufacturing workers that their jobs were never coming back, then took the weekend off for a barbeque on his ranch,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. “Is it just me, or have Ohioans seen this movie before?”
In Texas, the Dallas Morning News editorial board backed Huckabee, but even its endorsement painted a bleak picture for the former governor: “Whatever Texas Republican primary voters do Tuesday, John McCain is all but guaranteed to be the party’s presidential nominee. It is mathematically impossible for Mike Huckabee, the last remaining major GOP contender, to capture the nomination.”
Huckabee campaigned heavily in Texas over the weekend while McCain hosted a cookout at his Arizona ranch for reporters.
McCain staged a significant comeback after many pundits declared his campaign dead over the summer because of financial and organizational setbacks.
-- By , NewsHour with Jim Lehrer | Comments | Link
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I especially enjoyed Huckabee's reference to George Brett's last career at bat dream sequence. The difference is that George Brett wasn't burning through non-deductable campaign donations in his final dash to first base--that, and Huckabee's signature is not in my little league mitt.
Even though McCain clearly has the nomination, the factor that will determine the success or failure of the remainder of his campaign will surely be his VP choice.